So, I guess that makes you...
A handyman!

*BA DUM TSHHH*

"Hahaha! But, Im guessing it sounds more awesome than it actually is, right?
...
right?"

I guess I could be called a handyman, my specialty is with metal. Yesterday we were watching the colony on discovery channel and a couple people said mike kinda reminds them of me, only less cynical.

congrats again i'm looking at 9 more years :(
i get my associates in computer network technology in 5 more months
my bachelor in tech (yes its called BTech) in computer network technology 1.5 years
then my masters in forensic computing 2 years
then my doctor in network security 5 years

i plan to teach college if i don't change my mind before then :)

--jest bess

i plan to teach college if i don't change my mind before then

Won't somebody please think of the children?!

jest: good luck on that road. Though my own advice to the undergrads I worked with was to only get a PhD if you really *need* it. Not if you *want* it. It's not worth it. In my case, I *need* a PhD to do the work I want to do. But if it hadn't been needed, I'd have happily skipped the past 4 years of grad school.

And this is why I picked a field that I need no degree in, will make probably the same (rough) amount of money as most people with a 4 year degree in a mid-level management position, and only need the degree if I want 8% more on my annual salary.

Granted, I'm a social garbage-man, have no office except a car, and generally deal with those mid-level management position types screaming/yelling/cussing/spitting because someone did something to make them angry and they THINK that 911 is there to "make them feel better".

DBZ: Is it really so bad that people in your field do not get a (sufficiently paid) job unless they have a PhD?

Bad? A lot of fields have a wide range of jobs for a wide range of education levels. In my field, to do a lot of the really interesting work, you need a PhD. Not because of outside forces, not because you won't get paid enough if you don't have one, but because you won't KNOW enough if you don't have one. The amount of specialized research that goes on out there is vast, and unless you put in a lot of time and effort into learning all about it, you aren't going to be able to do it. It's not that people don't want to let you do it just because you don't have a piece of paper, it's because that piece of paper means that you might have some chance of understanding the work at hand. Even then, it's no guarantee, but pretty much anyone without one would be completely and utterly lost.

That's the dilemma I face in geology... I don't need a PhD to get the jobs I'm looking for, and getting one will just be a delay; on the other hand, a PhD in geology sounds like a lot of fun, and unless I decide someday to retire from oil and teach, would likely be my last major chance to do real field work. But in most cases, getting a PhD is just to have the Dr. title. (Ironically, I know of more than one person who got a PhD only to get turned down for jobs they really wanted because they were "overqualified".)

Even to teach in a comunity college I need a PhD. If i could I would stop at the Masters :(

Really? Two of our geology faculty do not have PhDs, though one is working on it. A PhD is definitely a plus if you intend to teach college, though.

Yeah, like diqrtvpe said, the paper actually means something. In my view, it means more that you've learned the process of research and scientific progress, than you've learned specifics, but the specifics will also determine your career to a large extent. In any event, to do cutting-edge research, you need the degree.

Without it, what did you say your name was, again?